Romaine
is a Saiyan from Universe 7. She is the daughter of Turles and minion of the Makaioshin. She is also the evil counterpart of Caulifla and a sort of foil to Gohan. Creation and Concept Romaine's creation is surprisingly complicated. Her actual design is based on an unrelated image of Caulifla (erroneously considered to be a picture of Romaine) wearing the clothes of Hiei, a character from Yū Yū Hakusho. However, even this was originally meant to be an entirely different and original character unrelated to Dragon Ball who merely bore some superficial similarities to Caulifla, but was changed at the last minute to be of the Saiyaness due to her recent debut (ironically out of a fear that the original character would be seen as a recolor). The creator later used the Hiei-Caulifla hybrid image as a base to create a parody of "dark and edgy" fancharacters in the Dragon Ball fandom, particularly edgy recolors. Her name is a reference to romaine lettuce (which relates to her father, Turles or Lettuce). Appearance Romaine is a short girl of muscular build and dark complexion. She has a large scar on her forehead, similar to Kakarot from Super Vegeta Den/Dragon Ball Sai. She wears a black gi with a red belt and has bandages covering her right arm. She also wears black bandaged boots. Her hair is long, wild, and spiky, similar in style to Super Saiyan Broly or Future Trunks. Her eyes are narrow yet big, with large black pupils, as well as thin eyebrows. These traits make her seem like a cross between Caulifla and Turles. Sometimes, she also wears a long, black dress-like cloak and carries sword similar to Janemba's. She has a black tail, unlike most members of her race, which may be a side-effect of her demon ki. Personality Romaine is a savage, bloodthirsty barbarian who is extremely proud of her Saiyan blood. She tends to be extremely physical, utilizing a feral fighting style that's optimized for inflicting pain and gruesome injuries. While already ruthless, her savagery increases exponentially upon allying with the Makaioshin and taking on demonic ki. Her incredible sadism extends to her romantic pursuits, which is to say she does not care for romance and instead lives solely for the thrill of violence and bloodlust. Besides combat, Romaine is outwardly cold and reserved, preferring not to speak. When she does, she speaks with a noticeably raspy whisper most of the time. Her speaking patterns are refined and staccato, much like her father's, which further contrasts the two between their counterparts— the uneducated Goku and punk Caulifla. Her instinctive murder of her weakened mother when she was a child caused great friction between her and her father, which did not lessen until Romaine first transformed into a Super Saiyan. The increased coldness her father gave her led her to adopt a belief in total self-reliance and lack of connection with others, which initially hindered her ability to ascend beyond Super Saiyan. Her personality is also modeled on the Übermensch, a hypothetical concept created by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, in that she possesses a desire to create meaning to her Saiyan values beyond that of the typical Saiyan's rudimentary bloodlust and single-minded pursuit of fighting. This belief greatly complements her alliance with the Makaioshin. This "manly will" and complete lack of concern for anything besides her own values contrasts with Caulifla's "motherly" instincts with Kale and desire to protect her gang. Despite this, Romaine also possesses a trollish streak and enjoys playing mean-spirited jokes on others. Biography Because of Romaine's existence as a throwaway parody, there are three separate "canons" for Romaine. The first one displayed here is the "Original: History of Romaine" story with which she was created. Others include "Romaine: Caulifla Black" and "The Evil Saiyan From Universe 6 " History of Romaine Early Life 'Romaine '(ロメイン Romein) was born in Age 762 to Turles and an unknown Saiyan woman shortly after the two met, approximately one year after the Turles Crusher Corps would have otherwise attacked Earth had Turles not been informed of Frieza's approaching presence in that part of the galaxy (due to the discovery of the Namekian Dragon Balls). Turles decided against risking an attack when Frieza was near and the Crusher Corps instead opted to land on a less ideal planet where they discovered a small colony of alien races, including a Saiyan woman. Shortly after Romaine's birth, she accidentally murdered her mother with an uncontrollable burst of ki. This soured Turles's opinion of his daughter for many years due to his initial plan to restart the Saiyan race. However, the Crusher Corps' second in command, Amond, noted that Romaine's murderous burst had caused an extreme power surge in their ship— which had once before survived a similar but smaller surge caused by Captain Ginyu, suggesting that the young Saiyan possessed an extreme latent power. Daiz went so far as to suggest that Romaine could even be "that Saiyan of legend", but Turles discarded the notion as a fairy tale. For the next five years, Romaine was raised to be a future lieutenant to the Crusher Corps, being taught to fight and manipulate ki from as soon as she could close her fist on command. When the Crusher Corps came across Lord Slug in Age 767, Romaine first displayed her incredible power in a moment where Slug seemed to be on the verge on defeating the Crusher Corps— she was able to severely stun and damage Slug long enough for Turles to eat fruit from the Tree of Might and turn the tide of the battle. Turles was intrigued by this show of force and reconsidered his initial doubts about his daughter, instead opting to exploit her hidden potential. That same year, the Crusher Corps attacked the fertile Planet Sekitome and first encountered the Igaku Shogunate, a Human supremacist empire originally from Planet Earth before it was defeated by a coalition led by Master Mutaito and other ancient martial artists from a variety of different species. Turles and his mercenaries met Lordkurozu, Lady Kodisepu, and the rest of the ancient Earthling shogunate, discovering they have grown exponentially stronger from their initial battle. It is during the harrowing clash with Lordkurozu that Romaine first reaches into her inner potential and transforms into a Super Saiyan. However, unknown to the Crusher Corps, the transformation was incomplete. Romaine, the Legend?! After the deadly battle, the Crusher Corps took over the planet and used it as a new base of operations, inadvertently attracting the attention of the Demon Realm. However, the Demons who resided on Sekitome kept their distance. Before Turles could establish a new headquarters, Romaine lost control of her power and transformed again, this time going on an unstoppable rampage across the planet. Even with the additional power of the Fruit of the Tree of Might, Tullece and the rest of the Crusher Corps could not stop her and only survived because she became exhausted. These two events proved to Turles that the legendary Super Saiyan was more than a fable, and rather than punish Romaine for the havoc she caused, he reformulated his plans with renewed zeal due to the excitement of knowing he was the father of the almighty Super Saiyan. Rivalry with Taiko Following the loss of Planet Sekitome and death of Lordkurozu, Kodisepu employs a powerful young man named Taiko to kill the "demons". Taiko attacked Turles, bypassing the rest of the Crusher Corps, and defeated the Saiyan with ease. Turles only survived because of Romaine sharing her energy and a Fruit of the Tree of Might with him. However, when Romaine confronted Taiko, the two clashed and were equally matched, even with Romaine's Super Saiyan power. Both were unable to kill the other, though Romaine's young age left her at a distinct disadvantage. This would not be the last time the two forces would fight. However, the shogunate was successful in chasing the Turles Crusher Corps off the battered planet, forcing them to return to a life of piracy. In Age 773, Romaine and Taiko came to blows again, and yet again neither could defeat the other, resulting in Taiko growing increasingly frustrated with himself for being unable to defeat "a mere child" despite the powers he gained from joining the shogunate. Romaine was intrigued by Taiko, quickly noticing that he wasn't like the rest of the Igaku and learning that he had once been an idealistic and simple hero who dedicated himself to getting stronger and protecting the weak before his adventures led him to realize he agreed with the shogunate and could no longer fight for a cause he didn't believe in. This proved formative for Romaine, who was inspired to find her own values beyond what she may have originally been born to do. Showdown with Cooler In Age 774, the Turles Crusher Corps was ambushed by Cooler and his own private attack force. Cooler proved to be much too strong for any of them to take, leading to most of the Crusher Corps being slaughtered. Romaine, barely able to match Cooler's power in his fourth form, was utterly crushed by his fifth. Her weakness and helplessness triggered her to fully ascend to the proper Super Saiyan transformation after years of only using the quasi-form, and by tapping into all of her hidden potential, she was able to ascend to Super Saiyan 2 (which she and Turles erroneously believed to be the "true" Super Saiyan form). With this dimension of power, she decimated Cooler and his men in a gory orgy of violence and seemingly fulfilled the prophecy of the legendary Super Saiyan. Similarities to Gohan Romaine possesses many similarities to Gohan, including: *Both were born with extremely high potential and a tendency to fly into an emotion-driven rage that brings that power to the surface *Their fathers are physically similar, to the point of looking like twins *They are the first borns of their families *The first instance of their hidden power was out of rage over their fathers being attacked by an ultra-strong alien invader. In both cases, they landed a battle-changing blow that convinced those around them that they possessed latent strength that could be harnessed *Both ascended to Super Saiyan 2 in similar circumstances. While Super Saiyan 2s, their Saiyan savagery was brought to the forefront and enhanced *Both had their potentials unlocked multiple times— Gohan by Guru and the Elder Kai, and Romaine by the Fruit of the Tree of Might and the Makaioshin *Both transform to change the tide of a battle— Gohan into a Great Ape against Vegeta and Romaine into a False Super Saiyan against Lordkurozu. *Both find some level of friendship with an ally of shorter stature— Gohan befriending Krillin and Romaine befriending Rasin and Lakasei. Indeed, Romaine's evolution could be seen as a "What if?" for Gohan in that her father had full control over her life and trained her to become a warrior, whereas Gohan was often under his mother's tutelage and was forced to become a scholar. Similarities to Caulifla Despite the obvious visual relationship the two have, Romaine and Caulifla are not very similar (due to them being opposites). The primary similarity is their enormous potential, which Caulifla used to become a Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2 within a single day. However, Romaine struggled for several years to ascend. It's possible that, due to Romaine's upbringing as a 'traditional' Universe 7 Saiyan, her ki control was much different than Caulifla's, preventing her from accomplishing the same feats. Both also possess red ki. The Evil Saiyan From Universe 6 (Alternate Canon) There is a second accepted canon for Romaine's history. Birth on Sadala A Saiyan woman gave birth to her two daughters, although at the time she did not know these two girls had inherited a really impressive potential. Unfortunately the mother did not survive the birth, but before dying she observed her daughters and gave them a name: Caulifla and Romaine. Romaine was born just a few minutes before Caulifla, however despite being twins she presented some differences with her sister. His skin was darker than Caulifla's, but the most noticeable difference was something really surprising: Romaine was born with a tail. This was very problematic, since the tailed Saiyans were supposed to have disappeared. In addition, it was known that the tailed Saiyans of the past were evil and had caused much evil and wars on the planet Sadala. The doctors who attended the birth thought what they should do, since that could mean that after several generations the evil Saiyans with tails would return, and that they could not allow it. Then the Saiyans council thought that it was best to sacrifice Romaine, but killing an innocent baby was not ethical. Therefore, the oldest son of the deceased mother, Rensou, set out to educate his two sisters, as a guarantee that Romaine would not be a danger even if he had a tail. The Saiyans accepted Rensou's proposal, as he was one of the army's most important soldiers, but the only condition would be that Romaine be raised in the palace under the watch of the army. This did not please Rensou because it meant that both sisters would be raised separately, but the council remained firm in that decision. The existence of a Saiyan with a tail had to be kept in strict secrecy so that no one would know. Little by little the years passed and both Saiyans were growing up without knowing each other, being properly raised by their older brother, Rensou. However, Rensou soon realized that their attitudes were not easy to control. Caulifla was impulsive, she did not like anything that told her what to do. On the other hand, Romaine was spiteful, to each order that Rensou gave him it seemed that it was keeping a certain grudge. Besides, Rensou spent most of his time with Caulifla, and Romaine was almost always alone in the castle with the soldiers, who secretly despised her for having a tail. However, Rensou realized the great difference between the two sisters. Caulifla was only rebellious, while Romaine seemed to be evil. Very upset, Rensou began to believe that he could not keep his promise, because to every advice or help that he tried to give Romaine, he got rejection and resentment in response. Maybe, it was true that tail-back Saiyans were evil by nature, Rensou thought. Then Caulifla began to frequent the most distant districts of Sadala, where she formed a band of delinquents. She confronted the soldiers of Sadala who were carrying cargoes in the area, getting stronger in the process. Romaine, for her part, trained and trained in the castle, despising the soldiers who did not even speak to her. Rensou soon received the corresponding reprimand because he had not fulfilled his promise to educate the girls well: Caulifla had ended up being a powerful criminal, and Romaine gave problems in the castle. Then Rensou received a news, Romaine was trying to escape from the castle. Rensou, along with a group of soldiers went to her to prevent him. And, seeing that his sister did not pay attention to his words, they decided to seize her. But Romaine counterattacked by defeating the soldiers easily. However, she had killed one by accident. Seeing that, Rensou decided to attack her with all his power. Despite being powerful Romaine was not able to resist the power of General Rensou and received his attack squarely. As a result, he had a visible scar on his forehead. "I was wrong with you... You are a murderer and you will be imprisoned..." General Rensou said with regret. But he was confident, because when he came near Romaine drew his sword, and cut him by a cut by the legs, which caused Rensou was crippled from the waist down. "You will no longer stand in my way. I'm tired of being locked up, goodbye," Romaine said and then left the palace for the first time in her life. Trivia *Romaine's design is based on Hiei, from Yu Yu Hakusho, as are some aspects of her personality. *She was originally based on an entirely original character for a non-Dragon Ball series who merely shared many similarities *Romaine's power level at birth was recorded at only 10, fostering Turles' initial conclusion that she was a typical low-class Saiyan *Romaine also shares some similarities with Broly: her youth as an uncontrolled Super Saiyan, her inability to control her power, and the pupil-less high-energy state she enters as a Super Saiyan 2 *Like Turles, Romaine never gained resistance to tail squeezing and is easily incapacitated if one manages to grab it *One of Romaine's attacks is extremely similar to Nappa's Arm Break, being used to break off Cabba's entire hand.